The Only Exception
by Hannahcrosswell
Summary: Nesta and Cassian go to the Illyrian mountains. As Nesta fights her PTSD, Cassian is there to help, but nothing comes easy for these two. Constant fighting, differing opinions, and repressed emotions are their constant enemy.


Nesta Archeron hated Cassian. She hated the way he made his way under her skin so easily, she hated his stupid jokes, and most of all, she hated that her sister was making her live with him in the Illyrian Mountains. Nesta knew exactly what Feyre thought would happen in this little experiment of hers, and she hated her for it, too. Nesta knows Feyre thought that sending Cassian away with her would fix her. Nesta knew better. No man could fix what was already so broken inside of her. No single man could tear down the walls she worked so hard to maintain. She was sure of it.

Now, Nesta felt nothing. Nothing as she waited for Rhysand to come winnow her away. Nothing for the life she would leave behind, and nothing for the one about to begin. She half expected Rhys to winnow himself and Cassianstraught into her flat, and felt a flicker of surprise fill her when she heard a knock at the door. She forced herself to get up, and go through the motions of undoing the four locks on her door, and when she swung it open, she stared into the violet eyes of Rhysand.

"Nesta," he said.

"Rhysand," I replied.

I could feel Cassian's eyes on me, and my eyes shot to the side to take him in. He looked ruffled, in a loose shirt and jeans. His hazel eyes were dull, his expression stoic, and a five O'clock shadow decorated his face. Clearly, he wasn't too fond of the idea of playing babysitter either.

"Cassian," Nesta said, "I'd say it's a pleasure, but it never is."

"Ah, Nesta. How you charm me with your words." He allowed himself a grin and tilted his head, clearly intending to taunt her. She turned back to Rhysand, eyes cold and expression blank in a way she knew would bother Cassian,

"Let's move."

He obliged. He took her hand, Cassian's wrist clasped in the other, and winnowed them away from the apartment. Winnowing was a unique feeling, sort of like the combined sensations of falling off a cliff and being pushed forward by an unseen force; but the feeling was short lived, and Nesta was silently grateful when she touched back down onto solid, snowy ground. She felt slightly disoriented, and saw spots in her vision. She suspected it was because she couldn't seem to stomach food as of late. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, she just didn't have much of an appetite. She knew that she looked sickly, but the men at the bars never seemed to mind when she brought them home with her, and so she couldn't find it in herself to care much either.

She looked around, and saw exactly what she expected. She was in the middle of some dense wood, pine trees standing far above the darkness, she spotted a small wooden cabin in the light of the moon above, where she figured Cassian and her would be staying.

"This is where I say my goodbyes," Rhysand said, taking a look around.

"Goodbye, brother," Cassian gave Rhysand a quick hug, and then he was gone, dissolved into shadows within seconds.

The silence stretched between Cassian and Nesta for a few moments.

"Right then, let's get walking," Cassian said. Nesta didn't bother with a response.

She let Cassian lead the way, and tried not to focus on his broad shoulders, or on the way he filled out his olive shirt so well. She couldn't afford to be having these thoughts. Instead, she looked above his head, to the cabin she would soon call home, and made the rest of the hike in silence.

Once they had climbed the few stairs to the door of the little house, Cassian unlocked the door, and followed her inside. She had to admit, the cabin was cute. Quaint, but clearly decorated with an artist's eye. There was a living room that had a connecting hallway that Nesta could only assume lead to the bedrooms. There was a small kitchen complete with wooden cabinets, and a large table clearly meant to seat Rhysand's entire inner circle. Nesta stopped to wonder why the cabin only had two rooms, while the kitchen had room to seat up to 8 people, but figured that there were bigger problems to be addressed at the moment. She could feel Cassian's eyes on her once again, and turned to meet them. She let silence fill the air between them, knowing Cassian had something to say, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction of asking what he wanted.

Finally Cassian opened his mouth, "You're room is just down the hall, on the left," A pause. "There have to be some ground rules here, Nesta," he stood with his arms crossed, clearly expecting a fight from me.

Nesta figured there would be rules. Feyre didn't send Nesta out here with Cassian so she could continue to drink myself senseless and sleep with whomever she pleased, and she knew that. So she simply quirked an eyebrow, silently commanding him to continue.

"One: no men in the house-"

"Does that include you?" Nesta asked.

"At any time," he finished, ignoring me completely. "Two: no alcohol. I've instructed every shopkeeper in Illyria to not sell any to you, and they know the consequences would be severe if they were to disobey me."

Nesta tried to keep the surprise from her face. Instructing every shopkeeper in Illyria to keep alcohol from her? Damn. Oh, well. Nesta was sure it wouldn't be too difficult to pull a few strings with some unsuspecting man to get her what she needed. With any luck, she would be able to break all of Cassian's rules in one go. Maintaining her cold facade, she asked,

"Anything else?"

"Yes. If you are to leave this house for any reason, you have to let me know. For both safety reasons, and to ensure you aren't doing anything that goes against the other two rules. Got it?" he said it with a smile, looking down his nose at her. He was patronizing her. Like she was a child. Nesta was seething.

"Listen here you overgrown bat. I am a grown woman, and I will not be ordered around like some child. I will come and go as I please, and I will do what and who I please, and that's just something you're gonna have to deal with. Got it?" She was glaring up at him, arms crossed, mocking his earlier patronizing actions. He only smiled, which made Nesta even more angry.

"There's the Nesta I know," he looked so pleased with himself, looking down at her like she was some game he'd just made the winning move in. It was at that moment that Nesta realized how close they had gotten in their argument. She was only inches away from his chest, she could feel his heat from where she was standing. She felt a faint tugging at her heart, but quickly crushed it. She couldn't afford to be having these types of feelings, especially not with him. It was too dangerous.

She backed away from Cassian, still looking down at her with a look a cross between fondness and satisfaction, and walked swiftly to her room without looking back. As she leaned against her closed door, she thought about how strange it was to have something other than emptiness fill her heart once again.


End file.
